The Boy Who Killed My Father
by roseblack123
Summary: Melody Newcastle is forced to live as a Muggle with her Slytherin, single mother, and all she would like to do is to get out. But when she befriends Harry Potter, she soon understands why her mother was so adamant on staying away from the wizarding world. No matter where she goes, she somehow bumps into her estranged father, Tom Marvolo Riddle...
1. Prologue

**Hey guys! I hope you enjoy this story. The prologue is a bit short, but the rest of the chapters will begin to get longer, I promise!**

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><p>When you're a witch from a pureblood wizarding family, you do not expect your mother to drag you away to a Muggle suburb and settle down. You don't expect her to get a job as a receptionist for some Muggle corporation and even force me to attend the local Muggle school.<p>

There is no point in asking her why. I know exactly why.

She wants to hide from my father.

When I was younger, I used to ask her so many questions about him. All of my friends lived with both of their parents. Where is my father? Why is he never around?

Mother always says that he isn't who she thought he was. When she found out the truth, it shattered her heart. But despite all of that, she never stopped loving him, but he left her, not knowing that she was pregnant.

He doesn't know I exist, but it's for the best. Mother always has my best interest at heart, and if she's keeping me hidden, there's unquestionably a good reason behind it, even if she won't tell me just yet.

I have a picture of him that Mother gave me when I was young. It's the only one we have, and I've always treasured it. Even if he is, as Mother puts it, estranged, he's literally still a part of me.

I look so much like him, with dark, wavy hair, midnight blue eyes, and pale skin. Mother, with her slightly tan skin, blonde hair, and light green eyes, looks more like a foster guardian than my immediate family.

Every year, Mother made me move with her to a different location. We never really stopped anywhere for longer than a year. So, when she decided to finally settle down, it drove me crazy to know that the location she chose was a Muggle suburb, Surrey.

She was trying to stop being a witch. But why? She's a Slytherin, for Merlin's sake!

Sometimes, while she's at work, I sneak down to Diagon Alley and spend hours at Flourish and Blotts. There are countless books on purebloods, and I do know for a fact that my father is a Slytherin as well. But no matter how much I hunt, no matter how many months tick away, I never come across his name.

Now, I have simply given up, because I know I will never come across Tom Marvolo Riddle.

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><p><strong>So, what do you think? Does she come off as the typical girl from a Slytherin family? Please review!<strong>


	2. Chapter 1-My Best Friend's Great Escape

**Hey guys! As promised, this chapter is definitely longer than the prologue, and you can bet that they will probably continue to grow as we progress further into the story. Enjoy!**

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><p>I lie on the couch, watching cartoons on the television. In just a little over a month, I will turn eleven. The very idea of receiving my Hogwarts letter sets me jittering.<p>

"Is that all you plan on doing the rest of the weekend?" Mother asks, rummaging her purse for her keys.

"Yes," I respond.

She sighs. "Why don't you try going out a little? Meet up with some of your friends!"

"I don't befriend _Muggles_," I spit.

Mother smiles, just for a second. "You are so like your father…"

The moment she speaks those dreaded words, her eyes widen. Sealing her mouth, she heads for the door. I can almost see the tears she blinks back.

"Alright, fine," I relent. "I'll go out."

She turns around and gives me a watery smile. "Would you like me to drive you to someone's place?"

I shake my head. "Why don't you take me to the zoo? I'm sure I could find someone there."

The truth is, I don't ever want to meet anyone. Before long, I will be far from this bloody forsaken place and on my way to be with my kind. At least the zoo has animals, which includes snakes.

I never told Mother, but snakes are my only companions in the suburb. She knows that I am a Parselmouth, just like my father, which means I can talk to snakes. Somehow, they can understand me better than humans.

But the last thing she needs to know is that I'm starting to love them more than humans.

She beams, probably just delighted that I'm willing to leave the house at all. "Of course, dear."

Within thirty minutes, I am dressed and in the car, watching the dull buildings go by. It's really unfortunate that my mother's job requires her to work on Saturdays as well. I would much rather spend time with her.

"Here you go," she says, stopping outside the entrance. I hop out and go straight for the reptile house.

The house is cool and dark, with lizards and snakes visible through the glass on their cages. I wander through the house, hunting for my favorite snake, Tolby, to chat with.

There, right in front of me, is the boa constrictor fast asleep. A giant but familiar idiot and his equally lumbering excuse for a father gaze upon it. The father bangs on the glass.

Nothing happens.

"Do it again," the spoilt brat orders. The father obliges, but to no avail.

Even reptiles don't have the time to spare for dunderheads.

"This is boring," Fatty complains, bumbling away.

Thank Merlin! I can finally give Tolby an Oscar.

I lean against the railing, smirking. A familiar-looking scrawny boy joins me, staring just as intently at him, wiping the smile off of my face just as quickly as it had come on.

Tolby winks… at both of us.

My mouth falls open. I spin around, making sure that this isn't a part of some unanticipated show. The boy next to me follows suit.

No one. It's just the two of us.

Tolby jabs his head towards the father-son hippos that just left. "I get that all the time."

"It must be really annoying," the boy and I say at the same time.

I gasp, taking a step back. The boy stares at me quizzically.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

No way. That's just not possible.

"You can talk to snakes."

It's more of a statement than a question, but I'm glad I can say anything at all. The realization that I'm actually in the presence of another of my kind besides my mother knocks the breath right out of me.

On top of that, he looks incredibly familiar. If I do indeed know him from somewhere…

"Yeah," he responds. "I've always been able to. I don't know why."

"It's because… because…" I can't even say it. A wizard that doesn't even know what a Parselmouth is.

I just have to become friends with him now.

"I'm Melody Newcastle," I say, extending my hand.

He takes my hand and shakes it firmly. "Harry Potter."

I must be dreaming. This cannot be possible. The odds of me meeting the legendary Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, in the middle of a Muggle suburb and him not knowing what his ability means, are far too astronomical to be right.

"Where do you live?" I blurt before I can stop myself.

He frowns. "Why are you asking?"

"Because she thinks she knows you from somewhere," Tolby cuts in playfully. I glare at him, shutting him up instantly.

Harry pauses. "Come to think of it, I think I've seen you somewhere before, too. Do you know where Privet Drive is?"

I gulp. "That's where I live. Number Six, Privet Drive."

"No way! I live in Number Four, Privet Drive!" he responds excitedly.

Well, Mother, at least I'll be going out more now.

"Hem hem. Hello? I'm still here, you know," Tolby yawns. I roll my eyes. Does he not know who this stick figure next to me is?

Harry the Saint smiles at him. "Where do you come from, anyway?"

Tolby points to a sign next to the glass.

_Boa Constrictor, Brazil._

"Was it nice there?"

I sigh. "He was bred here, Harry."

His eyes fall on the words under the title. _This specimen was bred in the zoo._

"Oh."

This is the legend who destroyed You-Know-Who? How am I not the Minister of Magic?

I would love to see what happens when we go to Hogwarts.

"In almost two months, it'll finally be September," I say.

Tolby sticks his tongue out. "Yeah yeah, leave me all alone here."

I smirk. "You know I would take you with me if it was legal."

"As if rules bother you," he says ruefully.

I laugh, turning to Harry. "This snake and I have known each other for a year now. As you can see, it knows me far too well."

Harry smiles. "May I join this group?"

"You may," I nod.

He turns to Tolby. "What's in September?"

Before he can receive a response, a rat-faced git starts squealing. "DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T _BELIEVE_ WHAT IT'S DOING!"

Dudley Dursley… so that's who the whale is. I've heard about him and his pathetic family from my mother, although she never mentioned Harry.

Judging from the way the pig knocks Harry to the ground, I'm pretty sure she, or basically everyone, doesn't even know he exists in that house.

The same way my father doesn't know I exist.

The very thought makes my heart ache for him. Who knows what the lad must have gone through for his extended family to hide him like that? He may go to school like all the Muggles, but he's just a vague form that's barely visible to the rest of the world.

The same way I'm barely visible. It's hard to keep long-term friendships, or any at all, when I keep moving every year. I'm just as vague, disappearing before anyone can actually get down to my core.

The ache soon turns to rage. Harry's situation isn't quite the same as mine. I'm being forced to hide from a potentially psychopathic father I know nothing else of but a name. Harry is simply constantly overshadowed by a spoilt, belligerent urchin.

He doesn't have to live like me. There is no reason for him to be foggy.

So when the glass between the porker and Tolby vanishes into thin air, I can't honestly say that I feel even a shred of remorse.

The whole house fills with screams and gasps. Tolby slithers out of the cage, playfully snapping at Dudley's and the rat-faced kid's feet. He winks at me and Harry.

"Brazil, here I come… thanks, amiga."

"Anytime," I breathe, doing my best to contain my laughter.

I reach out and offer Harry my hand, which he accepts. He gapes at me as I pull him to his feet.

"You did this."

"He deserved it."

He smirks cautiously, making sure that his oaf of an uncle doesn't catch it. "We need to hang out sometime."

"Oh you can bet on it," I return the smirk.

"I heard that a boa constrictor got out today. Please tell me it doesn't have something to do with you," Mother pleads the second I get into the car.

After Harry was dragged away by his family, I made small talk with the other snakes. It didn't go as well as I was hoping. All of them began requesting that I let them out, too, and when I said no, they stopped speaking to me.

It's going to be back to the garden snakes, then.

"Of course it doesn't. Why would I do that?" I respond. She doesn't need to know about my meeting with Harry Potter. If she finds out that I met not only a wizard, but one of the most legendary ones, she will whisk me away to yet another Muggle suburb.

I simply can't live like this anymore. As a witch, it's only reasonable that I have magical friends. Why settle for dweebs like _Dudley_ when I can meet better, more worthy people?

She seems to believe that. While I may be a troublemaker, I'm not one to start the fight. Since she knows only too well that I don't really have any friends here, there's no reason for me to have gotten into a fight.

"I'm glad to hear that. At least they managed to contain it before it could go too far."

Darn. I was legitimately hoping that Tolby could catch a break from the cage. Looks like he's going to stay stuck there.

"That's good. Imagine all the chaos he would've caused," I say. "Oh, by the way, is it alright with you if I go out tomorrow? I made a friend at the zoo after all."

She beams. "Melody, that's wonderful! I'm so happy that you're finally giving them a chance."

"You can bet on it. He goes to school with me. It turns out that he lives on Privet Drive, too," I say, careful not to say too much.

"Really? Who is it? I might have heard of him," she asks.

This is the hard part. I've never lied to my mother before, and it's infinitely more difficult to do than I could have ever possibly imagined.

"You might have. He's Dudley Dursley's cousin," I say, trying to stay as truthful as I can. He is, after all, Dudley's cousin. Neither part is a lie.

"Dudley has a cousin? I didn't know that. I'm glad you were able to talk to him, though," Mother doesn't prod. I resist the urge to sigh with relief.

It's not lying. I'm just not telling her all of it. Everything that I did say is the truth, so there's nothing wrong with what I'm doing… right?

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><p><strong>So, what do you guys think? Will Melody and Harry's friendship last, or will they soon end up becoming the worst of enemies? Please share your thoughts, suggestions, or critiques by reviewing! Thanks guys!<strong>


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